Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1887-07-09

Great Britain the Collective Will, the
nation, face to face with overgrown cor
porations, mho&e pirate interests are dia-
met,1cally opposed TO those Of the comn,u-
hiy at large?
Can anyone doubt the issue? OF
course, pirate control mW hare TO gre
in truth, have simply been performing
the function of paymdsters for society,to
the nation, democraticaHy organized.
That is why Socialists demand that own
ership of all means of production, land
and capital be abolished, and all these
means of production placed under the
supreme control of the Collective Will,
and forever after worked for the collec-
tive benefit We are the only party that
formulate a programme which fnltills
the requirement of George himself, sit
must swim with the current of the
times" We are the true co-operators of
the the Power behind Evolution, and
our plan is the only one that possibly
can iorestall the catastrophe and crash
that is surely approaching.
The day after the means of production
are placed under collective control, we
have not u particle of doubt, that, even
if the present ratio of wages be for Il
time maintained, the wages themselves
can safely be doubled and the daily hours
of labor reduced to six.
But George reproaches US that we are
not willing to 90 step by step. Oh, yes,
we are. But it will be seen from the
above that George will really not at all
that which we will. He wants Society
to stand still, while Evolution demands a
change. But we are perfectly willing to
admit that this change in the control of
the means of production need not be ac-
complished all at once; only this must
be insisted on: that one step must involve
and be followed by another sometime.
And as such first step, we greet the de-
mand in the call for convention of the
United Labor Party for governmental
control Of telegaphs and railroads. This
is a very proper first step. Thereafter
| insist on governmental control of the eX-
| press business, and, thus, of one of the
| larger of the national enterprises after
| the other.
And so we should like TO see the mu-
nicipaiization, the taking under munich
| pal control, of the sale Of coal, of milk,
| of ice, the operation of gas-works and
| horse railroads, the carrying on of baker
les and drug stores-yes, and of saloons,
! too.
But George will insist that such con-
troll by the collective will is destructive
of liberty, will crush individuality and
make I'LL personal property impossible.
This is perfect misrepresentation of the
matter. 1t will do no such thing.
| We do not for a moment contemplate
| that the State, even when Economically
organized, shall do all the nations bust
ness, or even a considerable part thereof.
Not to speak of this, that all local affairs
will be controlled by the various local.
ties, we contemplate that the business of
the nation will be carried on as CO.
operative business is carried on now, by
Associations, or Trades Unions, if you
will call them so, which themselves de.
termine the functions of their members,
their hours of work, and freely distri-
butte their earnings among themselves.
The COLLECTIVELY will only have the three
functions, of being General Manager,
General Stdtisticidn and General Arbitla-
tor. AS Statistician, it will determine
how much is to be Produced; as Manager,
distribute the work and see to it that it
is performed; as Arbitrator, it will see
justice done between association and as
sociation, between association and mem
| hers.
Then liberty will be realized for the
first time, for dependence on indiriduuls
TW cease; individuality will, for the first
time, have a real opportunity of develop
ing itself, and property will be placed
on an unmpeachable basis, that of being
the result Of ones own exertions. En-
erybo''y mH, for the first time, hare
cl'a"ce Of acquiring property.
But lnterdependence will be strong.
George is a thorough Individualist. He
says in Social Problems page 1889: "a
man has no right to compel any one else
to work for his benefit; nor have others
a right to demand that he shall work for
their benefit. This right to himself, to
the use of his own powers and the results
of his own exertions, is a natural, self
evident right which, as a matter of prin-
ciple, no one can dispute, save upon the
blasphemons contention that some men
were created to work for other men. ="
And so in one of his answers i'm his
Standard, we read: "Society had no
right to command the idbor Of Sir Isaac
Ne'cton. He o,ced no ldbOr."
These principles" drawn from
Georges inner consciences, are false,
"blasphemously" false. We belong to
each other, and this rests upon the con-
tention that ALL men are created to rori'
torother men. George would, if he could,
separate the Individual entirely from
Society. But Society is an organism,
whose members are interdependent even
now to much greater degree than it
seems. We are destined to become much
more interdependent and, indeed, ell
titled to no blessings that our feilors can
not legitimdtely share.
We are confident that the members of